Team Dragon
by vecus saravan
Summary: what if kushina gave birth to twins, how would it affect the shinobi world
1. Chapter 1

What if kushina gave birth to twins? How would it affect the shinobi world? Well, read and find out.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. If I did I would have given him red hair.

 **TEAM DRAGON**

As a bowl of miso ramen was laid out for him, six-year-old Naruto smiled at the chef as an indication of thanks and quickly dug in. Ichiraku ramen was practically the only place that would even think of selling him food without overpricing it, so it made sense that it was the only place he went to buy and enjoy his food in silence. Though that silence did not last long, as just a few seconds later loud slurping and chewing sounds were heard right next to him. His right eye twitched in irritation until the sounds ceased.

He was about to continue with his food before the sounds started again…

"Do you have to be so damn loud you idiot." He hissed at his neighbor

The neighbor in question was of course his twin brother, a loud, energetic (of course), ramen-loving, Hokage-wanna-be, prankster. Naruto was the polar opposite of his brother Menma, everything Menma was interested in Naruto found to be idiotic or just plain foolish. He didn't think of himself as a genius, but he was definitely smarter, stronger and more innovative than his brother.

Menma gave his brother a sheepish smile showing his embarrassment.

"Sorry bro, the ramen is just so good ya know." He said with a mouth of food.

Naruto's right eye continued to twitch as he looked at his brother with disgust and annoyance.

"So? That doesn't mean you have to eat like a pig. Now eat your food properly or that will be your last bowl today." He said finishing with a threatening tone

"Ok, Ok. Don't get your panties in a twist." Menma responded then continued with his meal quietly.

As Naruto was observing his brother he couldn't help but notice how unkempt and dirty his wayward brother's hair was.

It made his blood boil with jealousy whenever he saw Menma's long red hair.

He should have been the one with the red hair, not Menma; he's the one that values their clan more than anyone else. He's the one that spends day and night trying to learn fuinjutsu, he's the one that idolises their mother, Kushina Uzumaki more than his brother, so WHY the fuck does Menma have more Uzumaki genes in his body than him?

Hell, Menma is even better than him in fuinjutsu, even though the redhead never goes out of his way to learn it.

If only there was a jutsu that allowed people to switch bodies forever.

Naruto's thoughts were interrupted when he heard a deep voice in his psyche.

" **Hehehe… someone is jealous**." It said

"Shut the hell up Kurama!" Naruto snapped.

" **Hey it's not my fault you want your brother's body for yourself**." Kurama replied in a mocking tone.

"Screw you, furry bastard."

" **Hehehe** "

Naruto scowled at the Kyuubi's mocking; of course he didn't like people reminding him that he was jealous of his twin brother.

To him it didn't matter that he was more talented in almost all of the ninja arts, or even more intelligent than his brother. All he really cared about was fuinjutsu, and all things Uzumaki related.

"Er… Naru-ni, are you ok? You seem really bummed out." Menma asked, his face full of concern.

Naruto gave a heavy sigh and replied, "I'm okay, and don't call me 'Naru', I despise that."

"But… that Mikoto lady calls you 'Naru-chan' and you never say anything about it."

"Well I… er... it doesn't matter. Just don't call me that!" Naruto responded snippily.

"Well if you'll excuse me there's somewhere I want to go, I'll be out for almost the entire day. What are you going to be doing in the mean time?" He finished with a question as he stood up from the stool.

Menma looked up to his brother and gave an evil grin, "well that butchery owner and his friends were calling us 'demon twins' as we were walking by, so I'm gonna teach them all a lesson." He said with a maniacal laugh.

Naruto gave another sigh as a response to his brother, 'I guess it cannot be helped,' he thought.

"Very well." He answered and disappeared.

 **KONOHA BATHHOUSE**

This is where the mysterious half-jinchurikki was spending his day, at the village bathhouse, the female side, yes, you read that right.

Naruto Uzumaki was a huge pervert. That was the one flaw he admitted to having, he would spend countless hours looking at 'dirty magazines', checking out woman and trying to picture them naked. He even read the 'icha-icha' series and now, now it even got to a point where he would sneak into the women's bathhouse, using a transformation, spending hours there watching naked women enjoying themselves.

Naruto honestly didn't know where his perverseness came from. If he had to guess, he would probably point at his twin brother's constant use of the sexy jutsu, Menma has been using this jutsu since they were 5 and now, two years later, Naruto was the most immoral child in the elemental nations.

None of it mattered though; he came here because he wanted to take his mind off things, to refresh.

Being the Kyuubi's jinchurikki in a village full of hatred was not easy by any means, and the fact that they were twins didn't do them any favors.

The villagers split their hatred and directed it all at Menma and him, 'the demon twins' they called them. For over 7 years they have been shunned and made outcasts, with the exception of Mikoto, Tsume and Kakashi. A lot of the people that were friends with Minato and Kushina even pretended that they didn't exist, often turning a blind eye to all the mistreatment that they received. Some even went a step further and prohibited their children from ever playing with them.

Naruto wasn't complaining though, he had talked to some of those children and will never regret not being their friend.

His thoughts were interrupted though as a lot of women with nothing but short towels on came from the changing rooms. One by one each woman took off their towel and dove in the water, the blonde uzumaki took his time admiring each woman, but lingered over three women that he had seen a couple times.

Two of them had purple hair, the first, chewing a dango stick while the other had charcoal black hair with exotic eyes; they all had bodies to die for: no blemish on the skin, D-cups, perfect curves and nice wide hips with a bulbous shaped ass that perfectly complimented them.

'I'm going to hell for this' he thought, although he still didn't give a damn.

When Naruto took his eyes to the core of the three, he almost died of a nosebleed as he continued to watch with blissful enjoyment, his heart was beating so fast he could hear it.

None of the women had hair on them except for the first purple haired one who was still chewing on a dango stick, she, unlike her clean shaven companions, choose to shave her pubic hair into an arrow pointing to her entrance.

He continued to watch they bathed and conversed amongst themselves, he found out that their names were Yugao, Kurenai and Anko and they were all powerful kunoichi. If the stories they were sharing was anything to go by.

He was beyond glad that he put a chakra suppressing seal on himself, he'll be toast if Yugao finds out it's him.

The young blonde appears mesmerized as the three women pour water on themselves and clean every inch of their body; the water glistening as it passes from their forehead to the valley of their breasts, to their perfect little stomachs, then hips, until finally to the core.

Anko would sometimes even grope her two friends by "accident" and give some lewd comment to accompany it.

Naruto's face is burning up so much that if it wasn't for the fact that the water was already warm when he got there, he would have sworn that his body temperature is the cause.

Apparently his constant staring didn't go unnoticed. Anko looked at "him" and said;

"Well hello missy, see something you like?" A lecherous look painted all over her face.

"Er… who, me? I… er… I d-don't understand w-what you mean." He responded meekly, silently cursing himself in the process.

"What's your name?" Anko asked, swimming closer to him.

"I er… Akira. That's my name, Akira." Replied Naruto, a little more composed this time.

Despite his effort, he almost freaked out when Anko groped his "boob" and started kneading sensually.

Naruto struggled to maintain his calmness but try as he may, he couldn't keep it together because his transformation was dispelled and he turned into a little blonde boy.

For a full minute the entire bathhouse was greeted by nothing but silence.

Cold, dead, silence…

That was until massive killing intent filled the atmosphere promising nothing but pain to the young jinchurikki.

"Er… gotta... bye!" He said quickly and scrambled out of there.

 **KONOHA STREETS**

Naruto Uzumaki was now running like a madman leaving clones behind for distraction and space, he didn't care where he was going as long as he lost the angry women hot on his trail.

One of the women threw a kunai and by survival instinct only he managed to dodge it at the last second, though it still made a cut on his right cheek.

Fortunately for the young Pervy jinchurikki, he bumped into Kakashi and dragged him along as they started running together.

"Er… Naruto-kun why are we running?" The copy ninja asked with confusion.

"I may have pissed off some women in the hot springs and now they want to decapitate me." Naruto responded, not slowing down in the slightest.

"I'm pretty sure they want to castrate you instead."

The younger boy almost put his hand on his crotch as a protective shield, but thought better of it.

"Well you gotta help me, I don't think they are going to stop until they catch me." He said

"I hate to say this to you, but I know all those three women and I know just how fierce and dangerous they can be, so why would I risk my life like this?" Kakashi responded, making it blatantly clear that he would require something special to help his sorry ass.

"Well I… er… am the son of your precious sensei." He tried only to receive a blank face from the copy ninja.

"You promised tou-chan that you would protect me before I was even born." He tried again, praying in his heart that Kakashi will buy it, but he was left near the verge of tears when Kakashi said:

"Goodbye Naruto, and good luck."

Before swiftly turning to the other direction, but before he could leave Naruto shouted,

"Alright! I will owe you a huge favor, a matter of life and death that you can use at any time. I give you my word and you know I never go back on my word. Never." He said.

Kakashi held his chin, somehow putting himself in a thinking position whilst running.

"Hmm… okay, you got yourself a deal." He said much to the delight of the young blonde, although it didn't last long as Kakashi looked at him and gave him a smirk saying, "you know… I would have done it for free if you had held your nerve for more than 2 seconds; you are my precious sensei's son after all."

'Bastard' Naruto thought as Kakashi went to distract the women while he made his getaway.

He run into a nearby alleyway making sure that no one saw him, and waited.

After about five minutes he decided it was finally safe, he was about to go home when he heard a voice behind him.

"Hello Naruto-kun."

He almost shit himself until he looked back and saw the Hokage's advisor and friend, Danzo Shimura, standing three feet away from him his face, emotionless as usual.

"Uh… hi Danzo-sama, how can I help you?" He asked, his tone filled with suspicion. He didn't know why but this man's presence made him feel wary.

"The question isn't what you can do for me, it's what I can do for you, child." The war hawk responded.

"What do you mean?"

"You love the hidden leaf right? You want to protect it with your life... don't you?" Danzo asked in a way that made Naruto feel like giving any answer other than 'yes' would be deadly.

"Uh… yeah, yes I do." He said hoping the older man will get straight to the point.

"Good, you see… your situation in this village is quiet special, I have noticed that you are the opposite of your brother, perhaps it wouldn't be a stretch if I compared you two to Minato and Kushina; of course you would be Minato, you have his intelligence, strength, talent and drive to be the best, whereas Menma would be Kushina, he has her will, temper and appearance."

Naruto despised hearing those words, he didn't care a single bit why his father was revered so much, he didn't give two shits about it, his mother held more importance to him than minato could.

"My mother is the strongest person I'll ever know; she gave birth to us, had the kyubi extracted out her, held it down with her chakra chains, and still had enough chakra and strength to shield us from its claws. And she did all that in one night, that's more than Minato has ever done." He responded, defending his mother with defiance.

"I see…" Danzo said, not at all impressed with the child's disrespect.

"Be that as it may, in order to protect what you hold dear one always needs strength, and I can help you acquire that strength. Join me Naruto-kun. I can make you the strongest shinobi the world has ever seen. You already have the potential to surpass your father, if you learn to control the kyubi nothing will stand in your way." He finished, already dreaming about conquering the elemental nations with the kyubi by his side.

"I'll have to pass, sorry." Naruto said, unconsciously putting his hand where the seal was located, a move that did not go unnoticed by Danzo.

"Thoughts of conquering the world under the pretense of protection are a bit too much for me. I rather enjoy my innocence." He finished, though he almost snorted at himself for the last part of his sentence.

"Shame." Danzo replied with a well-hidden frown, "Perhaps your brother will see things differently..." he continued.

"You leave my brother out of this, or I will kill you." Naruto threatened, his killing intent already leaking out.

"I believe your brother has the has freedom to make a choice as you do." The war hawk replied swiftly.

Naruto held Danzo's arm with force, taking out a kunai with his other hand and looking at him right in the eyes in order to accentuate his point.

"Go anywhere near my brother and I will kill you." He said, the young jinchurikki's eyes turning into slits.

"You cannot kill me if you're not strong enough, besides, I'm only offering to train you, I don't think Menma-kun would appreciate you denying him such an opportunity." Responded Danzo with an emotionless tone.

When Naruto didn't offer any sort of response Danzo continued.

"I will give you some time to think about it. Oh, and Naruto-kun…"

"What?!"

"Hiruzen better not find out about this."

"FUCK!" Naruto mentally screamed as he watched Danzo leave.

HOKAGE'S OFFICE

"We need to talk old man." Naruto said as he burst into the Hokage's office.

"Oh, we certainly do, three women were here just a few minutes ago demanding that I punish you for your disrespectful actions. "The Hokage replied while trying with all his might to hide his amusement.

"I'm not in the mood old man. You are going to protect me from those women and I mean it. None of them are going to harm a single hair on my body." Naruto said seriously.

"Really? For someone who is in rather a precarious position you are making some large demands. Tell me something Naruto-kun…" The Sandaime started, smoking some of his precious tobacco.

"Why shouldn't I just give you to them on a silver platter, huh?" He finished this time actually showing a smug expression.

"For the same reason I'm not going to tell people that you use that crystal ball to spy on naked, unsuspecting women in the hot springs." Naruto responded, taking his turn to show his own smug expression while crossing his arms.

Just like that, Hiruzen's entire demeanor to the situation changed, the professor's pipe fell out of his mouth while his eyes went wide.

"How did you know that? I mean er… w-what (Cough) what are you talking about?" He asked unconvincingly.

"Uh huh. So we got ourselves a deal right? You protect me... and I'll keep your Pervy secret to myself." Naruto replied.

When the god of shinobi didn't offer any response, choosing instead to look away, he took it as a yes and then continued speaking.

"Good, very good. I'm happy to do business with you, old man." The blonde said condescendingly.

"Tsk, you suck Naruto-kun."

"And you swallow."

(0_0)

(0_0)

"What else did you want?"

"I want our parent's things, all of them. You cannot keep everything our parents left for us and expect us to live in some rundown little apartment depending on your generosity every month. I know that my father had a lot of money saved up from all those missions, along with his jutsu scrolls, and I know that my mother had a lot of fuinjutsu scrolls. Plus, I also want all the pictures belonging to them." Naruto said, making it clear to the Sandaime that he wasn't taking 'no' for an answer.

Hiruzen sighed heavily; he had already expected to have this conversation with the blonde.

"Very well, but I must warn you those scrolls have very dangerous jutsu on them, if they fall into the wrong hands…" He said

"Okay, I get it. I am a chunnin for a reason ya know."

"Come by tomorrow, you'll find everything ready for you to collect."

"Cool, I'll be on my way then." The half jinchurikki said as he turned to leave.

Just at that moment Danzo Shimura burst in the room carrying a no-nonsense attitude with him.

"We really need to talk about Uchiha Hiruzen." He stated, not even bothering to spare Naruto a look.

'Don't people know how to knock anymore?' The Sandaime thought as he sighed again.

"Very well, Naruto-kun if you would please excuse us." He said looking straight at the boy.

Naruto was about to leave when he reached for the door, he looked back at the Hokage and said: "Oh and by the way, this man came to me saying that he wanted to train me. When I refused he threatened the safety of my brother, saying that he will extract the kyubi from him if I don't accept his offer." Spoke the blonde jinchurikki pointing at the war hawk.

The Sandaime glared at Danzo and the temperature in the room went cold.

Deathly cold.

There wasn't any killing intent yet pressure alone was enough to make Naruto feel really uncomfortable.

"Thank you for telling me Naruto-kun, now please leave the room." The Hokage spoke with his eyes still focused on Danzo.

Naruto was more than happy to comply with the Hokage's command.

'What a day.' He thought as he walked out.

 **FIVE WEEKS LATER**

At the Namikaze compound Naruto watched with an annoyed expression as Menma, his twin brother, was flashing around the backyard. The little shit had, as usual, understood the fuinjutsu explaining space-time and mastered the flying thunder god, and now here he was; he was showing off the entire day with his stupid red flash.

"Hey Naru-ni this is awesome! Now neither you nor Sasuke will be able to beat me in battle." The redhead shouted appearing in many different positions within the space of a second.

Of course Naruto had already mastered all the other jutsu that didn't involve fuinjutsu, including the rasengan.

He has been trying to add his wind element to it, however it was proving to be a huge challenge.

Memna suddenly appeared behind the blonde and hit his skull, before disappearing, earning the blonde's annoyance.

"Alright you redheaded bastard, just because you flash around doesn't mean I cannot whip your ass. So behave." Naruto said trying to point at his brother, ultimately failing due to his constant flashing around.

"You can kick my ass eh? Well I'd like to see you try bro." Menma responded with an arrogant grin plastered on his face.

"Grrr… huh hey stop goofing around, there's something that we need to do." Naruto said, his face adopting a solemn expression.

"OH no, I'm not going to fall for that one again." Menma replied, still abusing the hirashin.

"Its Sasuke you idiot!" Naruto snapped making his brother stop.

"Oh right… we have to visit him." The redhead replied finally getting a hold of himself.

As they walked to the Uchiha compound in silence, Menma couldn't help but ask:

"Hey, I was wondering, do you by any chance know why Itachi-sensei did what he did? I mean we've known the guy ever since we were four and he never seemed like the homicidal type. He even trained us for crying out loud. I know looks can often be deceiving but still…" Menma said trying to make sense of everything that has happened to the Uchiha.

"Beats me, your guess is as good as mine. Itachi-sensei always seemed like a pacifist to me, I mean sure he was one of the most talented and most feared shinobi in the world, but he would always avoid battle if he could.

So the fact that he slaughtered his entire clan surprises me more than anyone." Naruto responded.

"It must be hard for Sasuke though; he loved his clan and he's always wanted to surpass his brother since he was a kid. He basically idolized Itachi-sensei. I can't imagine how he must be feeling knowing that his own brother took everything away from him." Menma said with a sympathetic tone for the last loyal Uchiha.

"That's a part of our job as teammates, Sasuke is going through something neither of us understand, so all we can do is be there for him and try to help in anyway we can." The blonde said while holding his brother's shoulder.

"Yeah… I guess you're right."

When the two twins reached the Uchiha compound, they found the door open, so they entered without knocking, they found the Uchiha in question laying down on a couch.

Uchiha Sasuke lay back in his couch and stared out the window, he had left the curtains drawn open so he was able to watch the sun rise at dawn. With the warm breeze coming through and the curtains billowing softly in the wind, it had been an extremely relaxing morning and the Uchiha had greatly appreciated it.

He was appreciating little things like that more.

Sasuke stared down at his open palm, looking past calluses as he carefully wiggled his fingers back and forth. Ever since the Uchiha were slaughtered by one of their own, he has been spending a lot of time at the training grounds, mostly alone, so he wasn't surprised when he saw his two teammates enter his house.

He's been avoiding them ever since that tragic day, and he didn't know why, they've always been there for each other; ever since his mother introduced them when he was just five, from that day they played together, laughed together and shared with each other. They were put in the same team when the academy deemed them ready to be gennin a year later, that was when Itachi introduced himself as their sensei, the missions they went on always found a way to upgrade themselves to higher rank, likely due to their rotten luck.

Sasuke still remembers how they always managed to complete their missions, no matter how bad it got. He remembers how he first activated his sharingan when he was getting an ass whooping from Naruto in a spar. He remembers how Menma first summoned his chakra chains when he was getting his own ass whooping from Naruto; and he scoffs a little remembering how angry Menma got when he caught Naruto spying on his mother whilst she bathed. He recalls how proud Itachi was when they totally blew away the entire chunnin exams, how proud the Sandaime was when he was giving them their chunnin vests, even how smug Naruto got when he defeated both Menma and him in the finals and named champion.

As he looked at them with a fully matured sharingan, Sasuke knew in his heart that no matter how well he would try to hide it, the Uzumaki twins were the closest thing he had to family, he loved them and he would protect them with his life.

Perhaps he was avoiding them because he felt his brother's betrayal put an irremovable stain on their team.

'Great, another reason to kill Itachi.' He thought darkly.

"Ever heard of knocking?" He asked curtly.

"We have, just didn't care for it." The redhead of the twins answered.

"Hn"

The two brothers sat on different chairs and once again the room was filled with silence.

"You know before he escaped Itachi left me a very interesting gift." Sasuke said looking straight at Naruto, his voice carrying an undertone of arrogance.

"What?" Naruto asked although he was getting a very bad feeling about this.

The young Uchiha's sharingan suddenly morphed into a shape of three petals spinning furiously.

Naruto's eyes widened at this, he had seen Itachi-sensei use this ability enough times to know just what it was.

"Y-you awakened the M-mangyeko sharingan?" He asked refusing to believe his eyes.

"Uh huh."

"Come on! Why the hell is everyone getting stronger than me all of the damn sudden!" He screamed with frustration and anger heavy in his voice.

 **FIVE YEARS LATER**

Team 'Dragon' was… (Yes I named them team dragon, deal with it)

Team 'Dragon' was currently inside the Hokage's office giving a report on their recent mission, one of the worst missions they have ever been on truthfully; this time their mission leader was Kakashi Hetake. They were assigned to escort some nobleman to the fire capital- a relatively simple b-rank mission- but apparently their rotten luck just turned shittier, because this time all sorts of freaks where showing up to intercept them. From foolish shinobi trying to make a name for themselves, some with a grudge on Kakashi, some Iwa shinobi with a thirst for revenge, some that just wanted to pick a fight with the last 'loyal' uchiha and finally, some that were sent to kill the nobleman.

All in all, by the time they completed the mission the nobleman promised to never hire them again, citing that they were more trouble than they were worth.

As they were giving their report, Menma was giving Sasuke a murderous glare, while the uchiha was doing his upmost best to ignore him.

The redhead's left arm was completely bandaged and part of his hair was looking a bit burnt; it was safe to say he was looking a bit worse for wear.

Sasuke sighed when it became blatantly clear that Menma wasn't going to let it go.

"How many times do want me to say that am sorry?" He asked his fuming redhead friend.

"You burnt me with your stupid amateratsu you asshole! If I didn't seal the fire it could burnt my entire body." Menma snapped.

"Yes, I know, but you're acting like I did it on purpose." Sasuke defended himself.

"You burnt an already dying shinobi, who does that?"

"He insulted me!"

"Alright, enough you two." The Hokage said trying to get some order in the room.

"Now… Kakashi has already given his report so I'm gonna have to give you A-rank pay, but honestly I cannot help but wonder… do you three plan these things? There's no way in hell that a single team could have such horrible luck." He finished looking at the three chunnin with suspicion.

"We think one of us is cursed, my money is on the Uchiha." Naruto said getting himself into the conversation.

"You want me to burn you as well Blondie?"

"Try it if want you want an ass whooping."

"You still think you can beat me Naruto? What are you like four inches?" Sasuke remarked knowing very well that the blonde despised being teased about his height.

"Grrr… yeah, 4-inch-deep into your mom."

(0_0)

(0_0)

Sasuke's sharingan immediately morphed into the mangyeko, looking straight at Naruto with murderous intent.

"Say that again, I dare you, I double dare you." The Uchiha threatened.

"Hey I said enough already. Now before I lose my patience, I wanted to inform you three that after reviewing your accomplishments and growth as shinobi, the village has decided to promote you to tobetseku jounin. Congratulations!" The professor said throwing them their new vests.

"Took you long enough old man." Menma said trying out his new vest.

"Yeah, I mean honestly, we have completed all 215 missions we've been on, it was practically inevitable." Spoke Naruto, agreeing with his twin brother.

"Hn" No prizes for guessing who said that.

"You know some people try humility when they are praised." The Hokage responded with a deadpan expression.

"Why?"

"Why?"

"Why?"

(0_0)

Hiruzen gave a sigh; these children were too much to deal with

"Be that as it may, I apologize in advance but you won't be able to rest much because you have a mission, the customer specifically requested you and he said it was a very important C-rank mission. I'm a little surprised he was so adamant on choosing you considering you three are coffin magnets, but who am I to refuse a client?" He said

"No worries jiji, if he wants us so bad he'll get one hundred percent of all of us." Menma exclaimed with excitement, completely forgetting about his injuries.

"That's why I'm worried."

"Nonetheless since you are all tobetseku jounin now, you won't have a team captain. This will be a good test to see if you're truly ready for the position. So team Dragon, do you accept this mission?"

"Hai Hokage-sama."

"Hai Hokage-sama."

"Hai Hokage-sama."

"Excellent, you three will be escorting a bridge builder to the land of waves, you will protect him as he finishes building the bridge."

 **END CHAPTER**

 **PHEEW! OKAY SO I KNOW I HAVE A LOT OF STORIES GOING ON BUT I'LL TRY TO UPDATE THEM ALL AS OFTEN AS I CAN.**

 **I plan to have Shinobi's will as my primary story, but if you would rather have me focus on something else then please do tell.**

 **Now for the pairings, I already have something lined up for Menma and Sasuke, I want to pair Naruto with an older woman but I am not too sure who it would be. I was thinking perhaps Tsume or Mei but you have other ideas…**

 **My thanks to Oceanfall for helping me with this chapter.**

 **SARAVAN OUT!**


	2. Chapter 2

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Naruto.**

 **Without further ado, Enjoy**

 **CHAPTER TWO**

Sarutobi stood, calmly looking out over the village from the balcony of the Hokage tower. He's always enjoying seeing it from a bird's eye view, he dimly realized. It had always been a street view for most Konoha citizens, or a roof view depending on who they were. But he'd rather have it all laid out in front of him like this.

'They're beautiful, aren't they?' the god of shinobi thought to himself

From the thousands of little people darting around below to the towering trees covering nearly half the village. He always felt a mesmerizing awe as he traced a simply enormous one that curled up and over the Academy, covering it in a protective canopy of leaves.

The place were future protectors, leaders and wielders of the 'will of fire' of Konoha and the land of fire were created, molded and mentored

"The kings of the village" as he liked to call them

This was the biggest reason he had been protecting Konoha from the day he was born to this day; to carry on the dreams and visions of peace, hope and prosperity from his sensei and mentors Tobirama and Hashirama and to the pass it on to the future

He idly wondered if Itachi felt the same way before accepting that mission from Danzo to slaughter his family

He shook his head at the stupidity of his own thoughts, of course Itachi felt same way otherwise he wouldn't have dared accept such a mission

He really was special the sharingan wielder, shinobi like him came around only once in a lifetime and Konoha was quiet blessed to have had one like him.

Unknowingly to most he was actually coaching Itachi to taking his hat when the time was right that's why he even took him out of Anbu and made him a jounin sensei so as to get him used to be in the 'light' side of Konoha

Hiruzen couldn't help the bitterness he felt when he thought of what Konoha's future would be like now,

Who would he manipulate, er, talk into taking the tasking job of being Konoha's newest overseer?

Kakashi? The man had so many demons that he felt that giving him such a job would only make it worse plus he was quiet sure that he wouldn't accept it even as a mission

Jiraiya? How many times had he's student reject this job plus he secretly didn't want to put an end to the Icha-Icha series which would surely end should the wayward man take the hat

Asuma was not powerful enough

Tsunade wanted nothing to do with Konoha

Gai?

NO! HELL NO, in fact FUCK to the NO!

He held nothing against the eccentric man but seriously, NO, even as an April fools joke he wouldn't dare

That only left the younger generation to consider, so who?

Sasuke had the talent and the will to handle such a job but now the last Uchiha was too much of a flight risk.

Naruto was actually more talented than he's two teammates and had the mind that rivaled the best geniuses Konoha has produced so far but the boy held no interest in Konoha. Ever since he discovered that Minato was he's father, he's held some resentment towards the village that has continuously ostracized his brother and him, the young blonde only had interest in restoring his near extinct clan. A part of Hiruzen worried about Naruto's mindset when it came to protecting Konoha

Menma? Perhaps the redhead would be the one to lead the village hidden in the leaves in the future, unlike his brother, Menma held nothing but love and admiration for the village Minato had sacrificed his life for, he adored the people despite the hate they threw at him and he always makes it a point to declare his wish to become Hokage whenever he could.

Yeah, Hiruzen could see Menma as Konoha's future Hokage but there was only one problem at the moment, he was just too young. He wanted to give everyone time to grow up at their own pace and rise through the ranks like everyone else so the idea of making Menma his apprentice was too premature

With a sigh, hiruzen shook his head not wanting to on this train of thought

When he's eye went back to the view of Konoha he realized that he had stayed in this position until twilight, he watched as the beautiful lights brightened Konoha

The professor gave a low perverse grin when he thought about what usually takes place during this time of day, it was so surreal. From all the way up here, one would never know that at that exact moment a good fifth of the village population was succumbing to their own baser desires.

And here he was, all alone, and really wishing he were at least twenty years younger. It really wasn't fair. As the Hokage, everyone just expected him to be above this sort of thing, to be abler to resist all the brutal temptations due to reasons known only to them.

To hell with those people. If it weren't for his complete collection of Icha Icha novels (God bless that wonderful student of his) he'd have given up on life years ago.

He heaved a great sigh, and turned to reenter the tower when he found himself facing a slowly approaching figure. Another sigh escaped him; he really didn't need this right now.

"Danzo," he greeted with a slight nod of his head.

"Sarutobi," the Root leader returned.

"Well, it's been great catching up like this," the Hokage continued as he began walking away. "Let's do it again sometime."

"Not so fast, Sarutobi." Danzo moved to impede his path.

The hokage groaned inwardly, trust Danzo to wrong his perfectly good day.

"What is it?"

"I have been thinking a great deal about the future of our village" the war hawk said

"Coincidentally so have I, well good talk" Hiruzen responded as he tried to once again walk away from his friend/rival only to be stopped once again

"Oh for the love of Kami, please let's talk all about it" the professor said sarcastically

"This is serious Hiruzen, need I remind you that you are way past your prime and in desperate need of a successor" the Root leader said getting annoyed with his friend/rival's antics

"I don't need anyone to remind me of that my dear friend, I'm well aware of our current situation" responded the hokage

"Then do you mind telling me what you wish to do about the matter?"

"At the moment, Nothing. Konoha is not in any war at the moment and I'm not completely senile so I think we have some time to prepare the next successor" the hokage said

"At the moment, Konoha is at its weakest. The fourth Hokage died at the hands of the Kyuubi taking a great number of our Shinobi forces with him, the traitorous Uchiha are dead, your pitiful students are nowhere to be found and one of them is out there doing his best to try and destroy Konoha and we both know that war can start at any moment" Danzo countered inwardly cursing Hiruzen for being so weak, if he was Hokage Konoha wouldn't be going through such a period

"What do you suggest we do?" the god of shinobi asked although he had a pretty good idea what Danzo wanted

"Give me Naru-

"No"

"Menm-

"No"

"Sasu-

"No"

"DAMN IT HIRUZEN"

"Danzo, you and I both know that having any of those three under your care is just asking for trouble" Hiruzen started explaining and continued before Danzo could say anything else

"Yes I know that I need a successor but forcing the issue isn't going to help anyone. Besides, Team Dragon has done incredibly well so far without any outside meddling so why should we fix something that isn't broken?"

"But who is going to take the mantle should something happen to you?" Danzo snapped

"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it" was the reply

Seeing the annoyed look on his rival's face, Hiruzen decided to cut off whatever schemes the war hawk was plotting inside his head

"Danzo, you knew that I was preparing Itachi to succeed me, you knew that the future of the leaf would have been in safe hands with him at the helm and yet instead of allowing me to deal with the Uchiha issue you decided to take matters into your own and now look, this is the result of your actions. Leave those three boys alone." He said ending his sentence with the kind of tone that reminded even the strongest of shinobi just who he was

"They need experience, we both agree that those three have a huge role to play in the future of our great village but if they are going to be anything like Minato's or our generation then they will need to see the world for what it is and understand exactly why we make the decisions we make" Danzo responded trying to make Hiruzen see his point of view

"What are you talking about?"

"Last year, the leaders of Kirigakure's bloodline movement came to us seeking our help in ending Yagura reign of terror. We refused for obvious reasons but now my sources tell me that the war is in its climax, we need to send team Dragon to participate in this war. Of course we won't allow them to be in the thick of the action considering this not our war but participating in this war will open their eyes to the real world" The war hawk said

After a few minutes of awkward silence, the hokage finally responded,

"I'll think about it" he said and started walking away officially ending the conversation

 **KONOHA STRIP CLUB**

Naruto blushed as he entered a secluded room with a pretty woman leading the way, the door closed behind them. It was decorated in dark reds and purples, lights on the ceiling giving mood lighting and mirrors on the two side walls, and the ceiling. The back wall had a long red couch, enough to seat 6 full grown men, and in front of that was large table with a platform pushed right up behind it, obviously for the women doing their strip routine.

The pretty brunet smirked and pulled her young customer across the room, and sat him down on the couch.

"Now then, let me give you a real show." As she smirked as she got up on the platform.

Naruto watched as she began to move her body in soft motions to the music being pumped in through speakers in the top corners of the room. Her hips swaying as her hands slide slowly up her body, trailing her curvaceous figure upwards to her chest, her head leaning back as she stroked her chest. Her lips opening as she gave out a soft moan.

Naruto swallowed as he began to feel a growing arousal stirring in his crotch, and his face reddening once again, and more as the clearly talented woman began to slowly pull down the zipper of her tight jack revealing more of her cleavage in a sensually teasing manner.

She smiled erotically as she continued to move her body, and her hands across her body, her open jacket pulled down, as Naruto stared at her bra covered breasts. She saw this, and teasingly tossed her Jacket over Naruto's head, making him jump from the sudden break of his view. She chuckled, and Naruto pulled the jacket off, putting it beside him, as she continued to watch her act, as she continued to dance erotically, and discard her clothing, one piece at a time making Naruto get harder and harder, enough to make him uncomfortably tight in the crotch of his pants.

"Aren't you a little bit too young to be in a strip club" the woman asked though she never stopped her dancing

Naruto blinked not expecting her question but answered nonetheless

"Maybe, but I'm also too young to be slitting people's throats but I do it anyway" the blonde pervert said

"Oh, you're a shinobi then?" the questioned

"Yeah, I'm surprised you haven't heard of me, I'm quiet famous for my age" Naruto said still mesmerized by her dance but also a little surprised that this woman didn't know he was considering what he was and how the entire village treated his brother and him

"Oh really? You must be some hotshot huh?"

"You bet"

"Then I guess you need something more special than a strip tease eh?" she said as she took off her shorts remaining in only her bra, panties and stocking.

A bit of blood leaked out of Naruto's nose when he thought about the implications of her words

Man he loved his life sometimes

"What did you have in mind?" he asked his mind going through some of his most favorite scenes from Icha-Icha

"You'll see, my name is Amira by the way." she smirked, hungrily, as she knelt down, and removed her bra, her large breasts jiggling as they bounced free of restraint.

'Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy' he thought grinning perversely as he watched the now identified as Amira's tits bounce freely as she moved

As Amira danced for him, Naruto took the opportunity to also carefully examine her features, she had long silky black hair that she tied in two pigtails, charcoal black eyes that seemed to light up when she looked him the eye, long luscious legs with a curvaceous figure to compliment them and cute little dimples. She most likely in her early twenties he guessed

When Amira put her left hand inside her panties and gave a low moan while her other hand continued stroking her breasts more blood leaked out of Naruto's nose as he grinned like he's just won the Konoha lottery

He was supposed to be getting some much needed sleep in preparation for his mission in the early morning but now as he watched Amira dance, he really couldn't give a single fuck

She moved closer to him and caressed his face, her charcoal black eyes meeting with his blue orbs. Just as she was about to bring his face closer to her breasts…

"We should have known you were spending your time and money on stupid shit" they heard a voice say

Naruto turned to glare at the source of the voice knowing full well who it belonged to

"what the fuck do you bastards want? Can't you see that I'm busy" he hissed at his annoying twin brother and equally annoying Uchiha teammate

"We have a mission early in the morning idiot, and we won't allow you to get us killed just because you were too tired from your disgusting habits" Sasuke Uchiha responded not at all bothered by the fact that they have just walked in on their teammate getting a lap dance from a much older woman

Obviously something like this has happened before

"I'm never too tired asshole, even if I stay up all night I'll still have more energy than you come morning." Naruto said seriously pissed with his so-called friends

"This is so disgraceful brother" Menma said giving his brother a disapproving look

"Go fuck yourself" Naruto said flatly giving him the finger

"Now get lost I wasn't done here" he finished bringing his eyes back to Amira only to find her lying on the platform in a deep sleep

The blonde jinchurikki turned to his smug looking Uchiha teammate with tears in his eyes

"I hate you man, I really really hate you" he grumbled looking crestfallen as Menma dragged him out of the room

"I can live with it" the Uchiha responded earning a glare from his blonde friend which he skillfully ignored

 **THE NEXT DAY**

"What the hell?" an older man exclaimed getting obviously annoyed with what he was staring at

"I asked for three super ninjas and I get three toddlers and one of them just so happened to have pink hair" he finished taking a huge slug from his sake bottle

"It's not pink its red, you asshole" rebutted Menma getting annoyed with their newest client, he turned to glare at his now snickering teammates

"Tazuna-san I assure you that team Dragon is fully capable of handling this mission, in fact they're yet to fail a single mission" the hokage defended his shinobi

He was honestly getting sick and tired of always trying to assure stubborn clients of Team Dragon's competence only to have them later sing their praises after they completed their mission but he guessed it's to be expected from a team so young and talented

"Could you atleast throw in one jounin who looks like he won't shit his pants when the going gets tough?" Tazuna said further annoying the three boys

"Please just trust their abilities Tazuna-san, all three of them are tobetseku jounin or you could always pay more for an extra jounin" the hokage responded trying to get him to shut up which seemed to work like a charm as Tazuna hastily responded

"No its okay, I guess I'll have to trust your three boys after all"

"Very well, you can start off as soon possible then" hiruzen said officially dismissing them

"Hai hokage-sama" the three boys chorused

 **Twenty minutes later**

After making sure that everything they would need was safely sealed in their scrolls, the team began moving through the countryside of Hi No Kuni. Naruto in front, Sasuke on the left side of Tazuna and Menma taking up the rear.

For a few minutes Menma looked around at the environment, taking in all the sights he could. However, as time wore on his excitement about being out of the village for their first mission as a special jounin began to fade. True they have been out of the village multiple times, but this is the first time they were doing it without any superior commander. Ever since Itachi murdered his own family, Kakashi had taken the role of pseudo sensei escorting and leading them in most of their missions. When Kakashi was busy, Gai was chosen to be their mission leader and those missions ALWAYS turned out to be quiet 'interesting' to say the very least.

Deciding to amuse himself and kill time, Menma asked Tazuna some questions about Wave, something that seemed to make the older man more nervous and panicky.

Although Tazuna tried to downplay his nervousness as the negative effects of Konoha's sake and travelling with three babies, all three members of team Dragon could tell that the older man was hiding something though they didn't ask him about it.

Trying to find some way to pass the time Naruto reached into his pouch and was about to take out his Icha-icha book, when he stopped. Having spent as much time as he had with his danger-attracting friends on so many missions, Naruto had developed what he had taken to calling his danger sense to a finely homed point. Even the most miniscule trace amounts of killing intent could be detected by him.

And right now there was a bit leaking from somewhere.

Looking around Naruto tried to find the source of the killing intent. It wasn't quite large enough to pin point, being fairly miniscule, so he was forced to really rely on his eyes. As he continued walking he spotted a puddle in the middle of the road.

Odd, it hasn't rained for several days. Naruto thought with a frown. He looked back to see both Menma and Sasuke eyeing the puddle before moving on. Naruto shrugged and turned back towards looking in front of him, wondering if he was just being paranoid.

"Menma watch out!"

Naruto whirled around when he heard the shout, and saw his twin brother with a pair of shuriken-linked chains, which were being held by two figures. The two ninja, who were obviously ninja by the headbands on their heads, yanked the cables resulting in Menma getting torn to shreds, sending body parts and blood flying everywhere.

Instead of getting angry like any other brother would, the blonde merely grinned knowing full well that he's brother/teammate wouldn't be killed by something like that. The two shinobi, both of whom were wearing water breathing apparatus', tattered black cloaks and a pair of wicked looking claws with shuriken chains attached to them, charged forward.

Sasuke quickly threw a shuriken and kunai into the chains, making them stick to a tree, then running up towards the pair before he jumped up and kicked both of the two ninja attached to them in the face.

The pair released their chains and charged. Thankfully Naruto had been expecting this, so he moved quickly created two clones to impede their approach while he stayed behind to protect the bridge builder, but before the doppelgangers could reach them, a red flash appeared out of nowhere and slammed a **rasengan** in one of the attacker's gut sending him straight to unconsciousness.

While the other attacker was clearly shocked with his' brother's defeat and obvious death, he wasn't able to do anything when he felt very hot flames burning his leg. The man screamed out trying but failing miserably to put the fire out even with a water jutsu.

He watched as the black flames ate away at his flesh with reckless abandon not stopping for anything, the man turned to his attacker getting ready to curse him out only to come face to face with the legendary sharingan only this time it was in the shape of a pinwheel and not the regular three tomeo design

"Talk"

That simple four-letter word was enough to turn him into a blabbering mess forgetting all about his burning flesh.

"Hey" Sasuke said slapping the kiri rogue nin hard

"If you don't want to end up like your teammate, I suggest that you start making some sense" he said reminding the man about he's fallen brother

The chunin glared at the Uchiha clear hate in his eyes "How did you know of our ambush?"

"Seriously?" The Uchiha asked. "That was practically the worst ambush we've ever had the pleasure of experiencing " he shrugged.

Seriously, that was no joke, if it wasn't for Itachi, kakashi and sometimes Gai's timely intervention, Kami only knows what would be left of their team

"Plus no assassin worth their salt would leak their killing intent like that." Naruto said getting into the conversation, he paused for a moment as he looked over at Tazuna, who was looking more nervous than usual.

Though them being here was starting to make sense, 'that must be why Tazuna has been so nervous' thought Naruto

"Really it wasn't that hard, if you know what to look for." Menma said with a shrug. "Since it hasn't rained in nearly a week, there was no way that a puddle could have lasted very long on a clear day, much less seven."

"Wait a minute!" Tazuna said, looking a bit disgruntled as he glared at the three boys.

"If you knew these ninjas were going to attack us, then why did you allow them to?" he asked, feeling a bit irked.

"We could have easily taken them out before any trouble started. But then we wouldn't have learned anything," Menma said as he turned a mild glare onto the man. "We wanted to know who their target was, and what they were after."

"W-What do you mean?" Tazuna asked with a stutter.

"He means we wanted to know if they after us, ninja attacking ninja. Or if they were after you, the master bridge builder," Naruto said as his eyes also narrowed. "When you made your request to Konoha, you asked for standard protection, from bandits and highway men and the like. You never mentioned that ninja were after you. If we had known this, it would have been designated a B-rank mission or higher."

Tazuna looked down in guilt under the three boy's withering gaze. "Our mission was to simply get you to your destination and guard you while you built your bridge. If we had known we would have been fending off attacks from ninja, we would have staffed a different squad and charged for the cost of a B-rank mission. Even if you had your reasons for doing it, lying about a mission is unacceptable. As it is, this task falls beyond the boundaries of the mission we were given."

"We should report to the Hokage immediately" Naruto said getting nods from his two teammates

"A-Are you going to leave me?" Tazuna asked dreading their reply

"We should, you'd definitely deserve it for lying to us like that" Naruto replied a bit coldly

"But we won't" Menma said surprising everyone

"It doesn't matter if he lied about the mission; the fact is we've already accepted it. As Konoha ninja we can't go back on our word, not only would that be disgracing ourselves and Konoha, but it could also cause people to lose faith in our village if we run at the first sign of trouble." The redhead looked over at Tazuna, "You don't have to worry about me leaving, even if they do."

"Hn. You think you could protect him yourself?" Sasuke snorted. "Please, you would be lost without someone like me watching your back."

"So that mean you're in teme?" asked a grinning Menma.

Sasuke just looked at the redhead with a smirk. "Hn."

Naruto merely looked between the two and sighed. It seemed he was would have to be the voice of reason in their team although they barely listened to him

"You guys do realize that this is our first mission as tobetseku jounin right? Do you seriously want to risk not only the client's life but yours as well because I doubt these guys will give up just because their first attempt failed" he said trying to make his teammates see his point of view.

"Yes we realize what we are doing Naruto and you and I both know that we're fully capable of facing whatever freak they send next" Menma responded, "If it makes you feel better, we'll send a raven to hokage-sama explaining the situation and also requesting back up"

After a few minutes of awkward silence, the blonde jinchurikki finally said

"I guess that means we're continuing then but if something happens that is outside of our capabilities, it's on you two."

 **Somewhere else in a hidden location**

In the middle of a large forested area, there was a large fortified structure being held between two trees. Inside that structure two individuals were having an important meeting.

In a room, a tall man with bandages covering half his face lounged in a large thrown like chair. To his left was one of his subordinates, awaiting his instruction. In front of him was a rather short fat man in a business suit, with frazzled gray hair and sunglasses on his face, despite how dark it was inside.

"What!" The short suited man shouted. "You're telling me you failed! I paid a lot of money to hire your group! I thought you were supposed to be some hot shot former ninja assassins! If this is all you're capable of-"

"Quit your whining…" the tall man growled as he hefted a large zanbatou style sword up with one hand, even though it was nearly as tall as he was. Bringing it around he pointed it at the now pale businessman, "Next time I'll be going to finish them myself. And this sword, Kubikiri Houcho (Head Cleaver), will be the last thing they see."

"A-are you sure about that?" asked the now nervous man. "It seems that the target has a high level ninja guarding him, and now that the Akuma brothers have failed, they'll be on guard for another attack. It will take some extreme skill to…"

"Just who do you think you're dealing with?" The man growled, not lowering his sword as he glared at the small fat man. "I am Momoichi Zabuza, the Kirigakure No Kijin (Demon of the Hidden Mist)."

 **Back to Team Dragon**

It was later in the day, and Team Dragon along with Tazuna had found a small clearing off the road to Nami No Kuni to rest for the night. Ever since the mission was bumped to A-rank, Naruto had unofficially assumed the role of team leader which was usually the case when they were forced to split up with their commander during missions. Sasuke had been charged with getting lumber and starting a fire, while Menma had been ordered to prepare the tents. Naruto was the one who had gotten them some food, catching a few fish from a nearby stream.

After dinner Naruto looked at his teammates, "Since this mission is now more dangerous than we initially thought, we are going to be taking three-hour watch shifts. Menma, you're going first, Sasuke you go second, and I will go last."

"Sure thing captain." Menma said sarcastically as he stood up and went to perch himself on a large rock some little ways away so he could keep watch.

"The rest of you make sure to get some sleep while you can." Naruto began moving to his tent. Soon everyone else had started heading off to.

Menma put some his hands up in the ram seal as he sat down cross legged, " **Kage** **Bushin No Jutsu**." A few clones puffed into existence only to scatter as soon as they were formed, moving off several dozen feet away in all directions and henging into random objects and animals.

"Can I help you Oji-san?" asked the redhead as Tazuna climbed onto the boulder he was sitting on. His eyes were still closed and he had not bothered to even look in Tazuna's direction as he remained perfectly still.

He was silent for a moment before letting his curiosity get the better of him. "I was just wondering'… why did you agree to come with me knowing I had lied?"

"Why not ask Naruto that question, I don't know if you noticed but he's now the team leader?" Menma asked a question of his own

"Yeah but, he did it because you convinced him to" countered the bridge builder

The jinchurikki was silent for a few moments and Tazuna was unsure if the he would talk or not. Finally, "Forsaking and abandoning people in need is both dishonorable and cowardly. Below courage there is nothing. Those are the words from fathe- I mean the Yondaime Hokage." Finally, the blond opened his eyes and looked over at Tazuna, "They are words that I do my best to live by."

"How noble of you" Tazuna said in a teasing like tone, "But still, thank you" he said as he stood up to go to sleep

"He was only trying to protect me you know, please don't take his hostility to heart" Menma said grabbing the old man's attention

"Protect you?" Tazuna asked with a raised brow, the redhead did not look like he needed any protection from what Tazuna could recall. If anything, he seemed like the most dangerous of the two

"Our parents died the day we were born leaving us with no… 'responsible' guardian so Naruto took the role of my protector even though we were of the same age. He pushed himself to the limit in training and worked hard to sure that we lacked for nothing. I guess it's hard for him to see that I no longer need protection ya know" Menma explained surprising Tazuna with the revelation

"I see… well, no worries then. I know I'd be the same if I was him. Good night and thanks again" Tazuna said as he walked away

 **Three days Later**

When Team Dragon got to the coast they were surprised was to find a thick fog had rolled in. Tazuna had led them to a man who had been willing to offer them passage across, and now the six of them were inside a motorboat to cross the waters and head into Nami No Kuni. Currently the motorboat was off however and the boatman was rowing, so as not to attract attention from anyone that may want to cause their group harm.

Naruto who was at the front of the boat was staring into the thick fog.

'There's something odd about this fog.' He thought to himself.

Even for morning fog it seems to be really thick. Of course, since this was his first time being in a coastal region, he supposed he might just be over thinking again.

"This fog is pretty thick," Naruto commented out loud, wondering what the others thought of it.

"Yeah, it's actually hard to even figure out where we're going," Sasuke said, agreeing with Naruto. "I mean, the only thing I can even see is the water…" he looked off the side of the boat and into the rippling water.

"We'll be able to see the bridge any minute now," The boatman said in a quiet voice. "As soon as you set foot on the other shore, you'll be in Nami No Kuni."

As if on his words the fog parted where they were going to reveal the bridge. The group looked up as the shadow of it loomed over them. Even at the angle they were seeing it at, the large unfinished bridge was a sight for the group of tobetseku jounin.

Menma whistled, "Alright I have to admit I'm impressed Tazuna-san."

"Thank you," Tazuna said with pride in his voice.

"I mean, I didn't think a drunk old man like you was capable of building something like this," Menma continued.

Tazuna's shoulders slumped a bit. "…that wasn't very nice."

Menma snickered.

"You guys need to keep it down," The man hissed. "The whole point of moving through the dense morning fog is so that we wouldn't be spotted. But it doesn't do any good if they hear us. Why do you think we're going like this? Turning off the motorboat and rowing?"

Sasuke looked over at the boatman with a frown, "And who would 'they' be?" he asked.

"Sasuke brings up a good question," Naruto said as he turned to Tazuna. "I think we've been more than patient enough Tazuna-san. Before we reach the pier, I need you to provide some answers. The men who are after you, I need to know why." His voice took on a deeper tone, signifying how serious he was. "And if you don't tell us…I'll have to end the mission when we drop you ashore. That was the technical limit of this assignment, protecting you until you reach Nami No Kuni. Guarding you until you finish the bridge was left to our discretion."

Tazuna un-slumped himself and looked up at Naruto, "Alright, I'll tell you…no I want to tell you. You are correct; this is beyond the scope of your original mission. The man who is after my life is very short man, who casts a very long and dangerous shadow."

"A very short man?" Questioned Menma with a look of curiosity etched on his face. "So we're facing off against someone who would be better off in a circus or something?"

Naruto ignored Menma's jibe as he looked at Tazuna, "A man with a dangerous shadow? Who is it?"

"You know of him. At least I'm sure you've heard of him," Tazuna sighed. "His name is Gato."

"Gato? Gato of Gato Transports and Shipping?" Sasuke asked as all three boy's eyes slightly widened as a sign of shock.

"The Gato? Rumors place that man as one of the richest men in the world!"

"Yes. The very same," Tazuna spoke with a slight nod. "On the surface, he appears to be nothing more than a legitimate businessman…however underneath that, the man is one of the rulers of the criminal underworld. He is known for using gangs and hiring ninja to ruin countries and initiate hostile takeovers of other business. He uses his business as a cover for his black market operations, smuggling drugs, contraband…even slaves."

"Bastard" Menma commented with a slight growl at hearing the man smuggled slaves.

"He came to Nami no Kuni a little over a year ago," Tazuna ignored the redhead's comment as he gave Naruto more information. "He had used his wealth and violence to enter our country, and before we even knew what was happening, he had managed to seize control of all our shipping and transport."

"That makes sense," Naruto mumbled, getting the attention of everyone else.

"Nami is really nothing more than a string of islands. They have no other way to trade and receive supplies other than their shipping routes. By taking control over that Gato effectively controls everything, am I right?" he continued

"You're right gaki" Tazuna said with an imperceptible nod.

"On an island nation the man who controls the sea, controls everything from finance to government, to our very lives. Anyone who even attempts to stand up to him…disappears. However, even Gato has fears…and the one thing he fears is the bridge."

"Which of course is why Gato is after you," Naruto said with a nod. "Once the bridge is complete it will connect Nami to the mainland, and you won't need ships to get supplies. Since you're the master bridge builder, you're in Gato's way and he wants to cut you off."

"That means that this Gato is the one who hired those ninja," Sasuke said, already planning on what he would do when more ninja showed up.

"That still doesn't answer my question," Naruto said as he looked at Tazuna pointedly. "If you knew this was going to happen, knew that Gato was dangerous, why did you lie about the mission?"

"If Gato has been here for over a year, that means he's had a year to place a chokehold on all imports that come into Nami. And if he's even half as corrupt as Tazuna is saying he is, then chances are high that he's placed ridiculously high taxes on everything. I doubt this country even has enough for a B-rank mission. Am I right, Tazuna?" asked Menma, turning to look over at Tazuna.

"No you're right," Tazuna said. "Our country has never been a major metropolis, and since Gato has come our country has been reduced to nearly nothing. We are poor to the point of emptiness, even our nobles have very little money, and what they and the rest of us have hangs in the balance of building the bridge."

Tazuna sighed, "As it is, we poor people are the ones who are paying for this mission; we simply don't have the money to afford a B or higher rank mission. They were too expensive." Tazuna looked up at the group of Konoha ninja. "If you drop me off and abandon me when we get ashore, there will be no bridge. Gato will no doubt kill me before I can even get home."

A thick silence hung over the ninja as they digested everything.

"I don't think you need to worry about that Tazuna-san," Naruto said, getting everyone's attention. "I think it was pretty stupid thing to lie about the mission. You knew you would be up against a man who was not averse to hiring ninja, and that he could afford to hire ninja that were far more skilled then a group of gennin. Had you gone to the Hokage and been honest, he would have been able to arrange some kind of agreement to give you a team of Chunin or even Jounin and set up some kind of payment plan." Tazuna looked down at hearing that.

Naruto sighed and ran a hand through his hair, "That being said I can at least understand why you didn't say anything. You had no way of knowing whether or not we would have helped you if you had been honest, and since we've already agreed to take this mission, and since that redheaded dumb ass," Naruto hiked a thumb up to point at the scowling Menma. "Was so adamant about us getting a mission, we can't afford to go back with a large black spot on our record."

Once again everyone was silent as Naruto spoke; his tone making it clear that he was the one in charge now.

"Well…I suppose we can continue the mission." The blonde said at last.

"However, if at any point I feel we're out of our league and I order us to abandon the mission, you two will follow my orders to the letter. Are we clear?" he asked in a commanding voice getting nods from his teammates.

"Thank you," Tazuna mumbled as he looked at the group.

The boat continued to move silently as they made their way closer to Nami.

"We're almost there," The boatman said. "Just under this archway and past the mangroves and we'll reach the pier."

Everyone snapped to attention as they made their way under a large archway, passing through it and coming out on the other side to a small inlet lake. There were several buildings around the bank, and a few sparse trees located around and in the water.

As they got closer to the shore the group found that the buildings were mostly rundown, with rot and fungus spreading along them. Some of the buildings even looked burnt out, no doubt from Gato's thugs using violence to bring the population under Gato's heel.

The boat made it to the dock and the Konoha ninja plus one master bridge builder got off. After Tazuna and the boatman exchanged farewells the group set off again. For the most part it was silent, only the breathing of the group being heard. Naruto was taking point again, while Sasuke were located on the left side of Tazuna and Menma taking up the rear.

As they continued moving, their danger senses spiked again, Naruto stopped and looked into a bush that rustled a bit.

"Get down!" he shouted he grabbed Tazuna, pulling him to the ground, while the other two quickly ducked

WOOSH-WHOOSH- WHOOSH- WHOOSH- WHOOSH- THUNK!

The group looked up to see a large zanbatou stuck in a tree with a man standing on top of it, said man was shirtless, with two cameo style armbands and pants, His face was half covered in bandages up to his nose and his head band was tilted slightly like Kakashi's, except not covering his eyes, holding up spiky black hair. The symbol of Kiri displayed on the head band with a slash mark running across the center.

"Well, well if it isn't Konoha's newest wonder kids, the infamous 'Team Dragon'" The man said, in rough sounding voice.

Naruto stood up and glared at the man. "Momoichi Zabuza, The Kiri No Oni. I never would have expected someone like you to be working for scum like Gato."

Zabuza shrugged, "It pays the bills. Besides it's all worth it if I get to fight opponents like you three." He said with a deep chuckle

'These brats are actually famous?' Tazuna thought

"Now that the pleasantries are out of the way, why don't you hand over the old man and I'll let you wannabes go," Zabuza suggested.

"I'm sorry but you know we can't do that," Menma glared at the missing ninja. "It wouldn't look very good for Konoha if we just let you have him without even putting up a fight."

Zabuza shrugged, "Don't say I didn't try diplomacy first." Grabbing onto the hilt of his blade, Zabuza kicked off the tree. He landed on the lake some little ways away, and made a hand sign. "Let's see if there's any truth to the stories about you, **Hidden Mist Jutsu**."

A thick mist spread across the land, blanketing the already misted area so heavily that no one could see more than a few feet in front of them.

Naruto and Menma quickly created ten clones each that all surrounded the bridge builder while the originals formed a straight line with Naruto on the middle and Menma and Sasuke on his left and right respectively

"Zabuza is a master of the **Silent Killing Technique** , it goes without saying that he's most powerful shinobi we've faced to date. If we're not careful we'll be dead before we even know it. Hope you're both ready for the battle about to take place…" said Naruto hoping that both his teammates understood the gravity of the situation

Menma taking out his **Hirashin** kunai and Sasuke activating his sharingan was the response he got

"Ah! The Sharingan and the **Hirashin** ," Zabuza voice came from within the mist, his outlined form barely even visible. "It's an honor to be facing them so soon."

"Still we both know that the Sharingan is useless if you can't even see and it goes both ways with the **flying thunder god** ," The mist began to thicken even more, making Zabuza disappear completely.

"Eight points…" Came the disembodied voice of Zabuza, causing Tazuna to freeze as an intense killing intent filled the air. "The liver, lungs, spine, clavicle vein, jugular artery, brain, kidney and the heart. Now, which one shall I choose first?"

"Ready Team Dragon?"

"Hai"

 **END CHAPTER**

 **Sorry I took so long; College is really taking up a lot of my time**

 **Anyway, I really hope you enjoyed it.**

 **P.S: If you are interested in being my Beta please PM me**

 **SARAVAN OUT!**


	3. Chapter 3

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Naruto, really wish I did though. Anyway enjoy**

 **FLASHBACK**

 _He could still remember his successor's last words, every time he closed his eyes even in he's dreams he could still see and hear him._

" _Please protect them" he said in his dying breath, a deep hole between his chest where the Kyuubi's nail had just penetrated._

 _Hiruzen could still remember the two twins fresh from coming out of their mother's womb and turned into jinchurikki not long after._

 _How vulnerable there are he thought to himself_

 _From the moment their parents died, he knew that the two boys' lives would change forever and not in the best way, enemies from outside Konoha would be after them because of who their father was and people from within would be after them because of what they carried._

 _They would have to be looking over their shoulders every day of their lives from an unknown enemy._

 _Minato knew that, he understood what he's children's lives would be subjected to and so he made him promise to take care of them, to protect them and watch over them until they could protect themselves…_

 _And now, right now Hiruzen couldn't help but question his own competence, all his life he has been heralded as a once in a lifetime genius, a feared and respected shinobi by friends and foe alike, he's wisdom so vast that he was named 'the professor', his power so great that they called him the 'god of shinobi', the longest reigning kage of all time who had led his village to victory in three great wars and taught students who could rival any other kage in power._

 _But none of that matter when he thought of his failures, he had failed to protect his students from the harsh realities of the shinobi world, he had failed to detained his favorite student when he found out that he was experimenting on civilians, he had failed to protect his successor from an early death and now this, the third hokage considered this his greatest failure…_

 _He was failing in keeping his promise to protect his children._

 _Late in the dead of night, when he was just about ready to call it a day one of the anbu on duty had come to his office and delivered some grim news…_

 _The anbu assigned to protect the two Uzumaki twins that night had just tried to murder them._

 _Hiruzen Sarutobi felt his heart drop when he heard that news, apparently the anbu in question had lost his wife and father during the Kyuubi's rampage and he wanted to take his misplaced anger out on the two four year children._

 _When he had reached the little boy's apartment, he found the anbu dead, blood on the floor, the atmosphere thick with the Kyuubi's chakra and the two boys traumatized from the event. He asked them what happened but none of boys were in the right sense of mind to answer the question._

 _Later he found out that the anbu had attacked when the twins were asleep, he had stabbed Menma on the chest with a kunai and was about to finish the job when Naruto unconsciously tapped into the Kyuubi's and used it to kill the man._

 _Hiruzen had quickly taken the boys to the hospital and had Naruto's seal checked, days after that night he had visited the boys a couple of times but seldom stayed long, he didn't want to admit it but he knew that the more time he spent with them the more ashamed he felt, he could barely look them in the eye and truthfully explain why a hidden leaf shinobi tried to murder them when they asked._

 _Just then a flock of birds appeared signaling the presence of one of his most trusted and loyal shinobi._

" _Ah, Itachi-kun you've finally made it" he said with a small smile_

" _I hope you haven't been waiting long hokage-sama" the bowing anbu said in his usual monotone voice_

" _Not at all, how was your mission?"_

" _successful"_

" _Right, right. Good to hear. I take it you've heard about what happened to the Uzumaki twins?" the hokage asked taking a small puff from his favorite tobacco pipe_

" _I have; mother was really furious when she heard. She really wants them to live with us at the Uchiha compound" the 14-year-old genius replied_

" _You understand why I can't allow that to happen right?"_

" _I do Hokage-sama" Itachi replied bluntly, honestly the unfortunate state of affairs with the Uchiha clan was something that he'd rather not talk about but still understood._

" _Good, I've heard that both boys including your brother are rather talented in their class, geniuses the teachers are calling them" the hokage said taking another puff_

" _That's good to hear"_

" _Most of them believe that they graduate earlier than their classmates, far earlier"_

 _Itachi didn't need to be a genius to know where this conversation was going and he didn't like it but for the sake of patience and ignorance he allowed the conversation to flow_

" _Sasuke would be pleased, he's always wanted to surpass me, this will be a big step for him" he said making idle chit-chat of his own_

" _Oh yes indeed, there is just the problem of which sensei to assign them" Hiruzen said_

" _Kakashi-sempai would be a great choice, experienced, talented even a genius himself" the uchiha replied_

" _A great choice indeed, but Kakashi-kun is still dealing with his losses and is not in the right state of mind, I don't think this is a good time to give him such responsibility" the Hokage said a bit of amusement in his tone_

" _Perhaps Gai-san, he is just as powerful as Kakashi-sempai, a hard worker who would surely teach them a lot"_

" _Gai-kun is powerful yes, but he's repertoire does lack some key components that the three boys will need to grow stronger I'm afraid" Hiruzen spoke, it was like he was just waiting for Itachi to address the real issue here_

 _Finally, the young Uchiha got tired of this game and spoke his mind, "Hokage-sama I say this at the risk of sounding arrogant but I believe that my skills are better suited on more dangerous missions, completing them when others could not, serving Konoha directly so as to say, not teaching gennin" he finally said_

" _I see, but look at it this way; one of your daily shifts entails that you look after the twins, during your days off, you take the time to teach your brother and not to mention your mother's concern over the three of them. As their jounin sensei, you not only get to teach them but you also get to watch over them, you protect them from harm and your mother is happier." Sarutobi said_

" _Hokage-sama I-_

" _Plus they're not going to graduate anytime soon, so you can take the time to think about it and should you accept, you could easily rejoin anbu after they become chunin which we both know won't be that difficult for them" he finished_

 _Hook, line and sinker._

" _I-, I see" was all the Uchiha could say_

" _So Itachi-kun, do you accept?"_

 **END FLASHBACK**

"Alright guys, let's go!" Naruto shouted though he was cut off by the rogue Kiri ninja

"You're all talk boy" Zabuza appeared right in the midst of the clones and Tazuna. Just as he was about to cleave them all with Kubikiri Houcho however, one of Naruto's clones appeared right next to Zabuza and stabbed him in the gut, only for the Zabuza that he had stabbed to turn into water.

" **Water Clone**!" Menma exclaimed right before Zabuza appeared behind him and cleaved him in half, however, much to Zabuza's surprise, Menma turned into a puff of smoke.

"It's over" Sasuke said as he appeared behind Zabuza and brought a kunai to the other ninja's throat.

"I see," Zabuza chuckled as he turned his head to look at the young Uchiha. "You took advantage of the fact that I wanted to eliminate your teammates first and used your sharingan to get close to me without me noticing. That eye of yours is quite impressive; however, this battle is far from over!"

Zabuza swung his sword arm around, forcing Sasuke to duck under the powerful swing. Planting his sword into the ground, the mist ninja used the leverage it granted him to launch a powerful kick in Sasuke's face.

Just as he was about to follow up his attack on the Uchiha, a red flash appeared behind him with Menma holding and aiming the hirashin kunai straight for his throat which Zabuza narrowly avoided due to his experience.

Zabuza took to the air as he prepared a **water dragon jutsu** , but just he launched it, Naruto quickly countered with a **fire dragon jutsu** , the two jutsu collided causing a great shift in the atmosphere.

Zabuza performed a quick sunshin to escape the steam but as soon as he appeared on the ground, Menma was on him with a high roundhouse kick aimed for his throat. The rogue nin dodged but didn't get the chance to counterattack before Sasuke also appeared on his right to deliver a brutal kick to the gut that surprisingly sent the larger man flying.

Zabuza gave an irritated growl before he made hand signs in preparation for the **water style- water bomb jutsu** but he never got the chance to execute his jutsu before Naruto threw a wind-coated kunai at him and used the **shiruken shadow clone jutsu** to multiply the number of shiruken.

Zabuza summoned all the experience and reflexes he had gained over the years but still wasn't able to completely dodge the kunai, thus some of them ended up slicing him up and one lodged itself in his right pectoral region though he was still glad that he avoided the vital spots.

Again, the rogue nin wasn't given any time to regroup because Sasuke appeared next to him and threw a punch aimed for his face though this time Zabuza parried it away and just as he was about to place his knee in the raven haired boy's gut Menma appeared above Sasuke and kicked Zabuza brutally on his face which sent him crashing in the water.

" **Electromagnetic shock"** Naruto said as he appeared above him on the water and used the water to his advantage by electrocuting Zabuza.

"Now you little bastards have done it; I swear I'm gonna murder you all!" Zabuza sneered as he finally had enough of the three boys humiliating him.

" **wind style- great wind breakthrough**!"

" **Fire style- great fireball jutsu"**

Zabuza's speech was cut off as he watched when a cannonball-sized ball of wind collided with a similar sized fireball from Naruto and Sasuke respectively came rushing towards him in the form of a great big firestorm.

" **Water style- great wall of water"** Zabuza exclaimed as he formed a huge wall of water to protect him but was forced to abandon it when the fireball seemed to be too powerful for the water wall.

He quickly shunshined to a nearby tree but like it was the entire battle Menma appeared in front of him in a flash of red and delivered a **rasengan** that sent Zabuza blasting through the air and only stopped when he hit a tree with enough force to the bark.

Before anything else could happen several Kunai were launched at the Kiri nuke-nin, hitting him in his arms, left leg and torso. Zabuza coughed up large amounts of blood, staining his bandages as it leaked from his mouth, chest and his various cuts.

Before anyone could finish Zabuza off, several senbon pierced the man's neck. Zabuza's eyes rolled up in the back of his head as he fell to the ground.

"He's mine now" said a voice that came from Menma's left, turning he saw a young person whose gender was hard to tell due to the blue robes that covered his/her form. On the person's face was a mask that the three boys recognized as a Hunter Ninja mask from Kiri. "It seems this was his final battle."

Naruto grunted as he leapt off the branch and made his way over to Zabuza, checking the man's pulse.

"He's dead…" He mumbled, turning to look at the hunter ninja. "You're a hunter Ninja from Kiri?"

The Hunter Ninja bowed. "I am; I would like to thank you for stalling him for me. I have been after Momoichi Zabuza for a long time."

Naruto sighed as he's teammates came up behind him, looking at the hunter ninja curiously.

The hunter ninja disappeared in a swirl of water reappearing next to Zabuza's fallen body. Bending down the hunter ninja picked up Zabuza, pulling the man's arm over his/her shoulder. "Now if you'll excuse me, this body has many secrets, so I need to go and destroy it."

Naruto frowned suspiciously as he watched the hunter ninja disappear in another swirl of water. 'Something's off about this hunter nin' he thought

"Well that was interesting, don't you think?" Menma said

"Yeah, I get the feeling that this is far from over" agreed Sasuke

"Be that as it may, we need to get outta here before we ran into more surprises" spoke Naruto

Sighing Naruto stood and brought his hands in the ram seal then all the shadow clones including Menma's that were protecting Tazuna puffed out of existence.

"Tazuna-san, we need to get to your home now. Think you can lead us there?" asked Naruto.

"Uh…yeah," Tazuna said he's eyes wide as saucers not quiet believing what he has just witnessed. "It's just this way, follow me."

"Sasuke you take point," Naruto said. "Memna take the side and I'll be at the rear" the blonde finished.

The three Konoha tobetseku jounin followed Tazuna as he led them to his house.

Said house was a decent sized two story house that was sitting on a dock just a little over the ocean, as the group walked up to the house Tazuna banged on the door, "Tsunami! It's me, open up!"

The group could hear a quick shuffling of feet on the other side before the door opened, and a beautiful woman in her mid to late twenties with dark blue shoulder length hair and brown eyes could be seen. She was wearing a pink sweater, and a blue skirt.

"Tou-san!" the woman said in relief as she saw him. "Thank goodness you're alright!"

"Of course I'm alright!" Tazuna said with a large relieved smile at seeing his daughter. "It's all thanks to these ninjas here, it's was so crazy you wouldn't believe it if I told ya"

Tsunami looked over Tazuna's shoulder to see the group with him. "Thank you very much." She said with a bow before she noticed the group of… kids?

'well well well, it seems coming here wasn't a waste of time after all' Naruto as he took long lusty, uh, admiring look at Tsunami.

"You guys must be tired after such a long day" Tsunami said as she opened the door the group to enter. "I will show you to the bedroom where you can rest, dinner will be ready in a minute."

"Oh don't worry about it, that's just what we do, ya know, helping people" the blonde Uzumaki said giving her a charming smile

'Yeah right' his two teammates thought to the themselves

Nevertheless, they followed Tsunami up a set of stairs and into a hallway. She opened the first door on the left and let the Naruto and the other two in. Walking over to a closet in the room she opened it and grabbed a bed spread that she set out on the floor.

"Here you are," She said.

"Thank you."

The group was silent for a little while after that, thinking about all that had happened and what their next move should be.

"Well, at least we defeated that strong ninja this time," Tazuna said with a relieved laugh. "So we should be safe for now. By the way, who was that masked kid?"

"That's the mask worn by Kirigakure's special hunter-ninja team," Sasuke answered. "They are also known as body erasers. Their duty is to completely dispose of a body without a trace. A ninja's body within it has many secrets that can be revealed with a proper examination of a medical ninja. Things like ninjutsu, different chakra types, herbs and many other secrets that will reveal things about the village. For example, if I died, the secrets of the Sharingan could be revealed. If you're not careful there's the danger that the enemy will steal your jutsu."

"That's why the hunter ninja are around," The rest of the group turned towards Naruto. "In order to protect the secrets of their village, hunter ninja have the jobs of going into the world and hunting down the missing ninja of their village. They're specialists who guard their village's secrets."

"So that Zabuza has been chopped up and disposed of?" Tazuna asked with a pale complexion as he spoke. "Scary!"

Naruto shook his head. "I'm not so sure…"

"What do you mean?" asked Tazuna as he looked over at Naruto. "What are you not sure about?"

Naruto frowned as he's thoughts took him back to the Kiri hunter nin, "When a hunter ninja disposes of a body, it's supposed to be on the spot. That way no one has a chance to discover the secrets they might hold before they can get rid of it. They usually cut off the head and then burn the body with a Katon jutsu. However,"

"However that ninja didn't do that…instead he left with the body in tow. On top of that, he used senbon to kill the target" Menma finished for him

"And it didn't look like he was carrying any kind of heavy equipment that could decapitate a person… I'm just…it seems odd that a hunter ninja would be so ill-equipped to deal with the disposing of a body."

"Then w-what does this all mean, is this Zabuza guy still alive then?" Tsunami asked fearing greatly for her father

"It's very possible I'm afraid" Naruto said with a sigh

 **Different location**

Within the forest just some little ways from where Zabuza had fought the Konoha ninja, the hunter-ninja looked over Zabuza's body. Reaching into a pouch, the hunter took out a tool kit and unrolled it on the ground. The ninja grabbed a pair of clippers and brought them towards Zabuza.

"First I'll cut off the mouth cloth and drain some of the blood, whatever jutsu the redhead used against you was, it was very powerful, you're really lucky that you're still alive Zabuza-sama" The ninja mumbled, carefully bringing the clippers to bear near Zabuza's clothed face.

Just before the hunter could cut the cloth, Zabuza's hand shot up and grabbed the hunter's arm.

Zabuza merely gave an angry grunt as the hunter nin started healing him, he didn't need reminding that a couple of thirteen-year-old boys almost killed him

"Oh." The hunter said, sounding surprised, "You've already come back to life."

Zabuza grunted as he grabbed the senbon in his neck and gave them a yank. "Damn, you sure are rough," He grunted as he pulled them out.

"Oh! You're pretty rough yourself, pulling them out like that; you may really die if you pull them out so carelessly." The hunter said.

Zabuza just gave a non-committal grunt. "How long are you going to wear that stupid mask?" he asked.

"I like this mask," The fake hunter replied, "It reminds me of the old days." Despite that, the fake hunter reached up and pulled the mask off, "Plus it was useful for this act. If I hadn't saved you, you would have definitely been killed."

Zabuza glared at his partner, and decided to let the fake hunter know just what he thought of the hunter's selection of pressure points. "If you were going to put me into a temporary death, you didn't have to aim for the neck you know. You could have used a safer acupuncture point," The Kiri missing ninja put the cloth back around his mouth. "You're brutal as always."

His partner merely smiled, "You're right. But we both know how you would get angry if I scarred that flawless body of yours. And the neck doesn't have much muscle; it's easier to hit the acupuncture point there."

The fake hunter examined Zabuza's vitals to see how much damage was done to him that both the fight and the temporary death state had given him. The man had a lot more wounds then usual due to who he was fighting, but the hunter determined he would live.

"You shouldn't be able to move much for about two weeks or so, but…knowing you, you'll probably be up and about sooner."

Zabuza at his partner out of the corner of his eye and smirked. "You're so pure and clever, that's what I like about you…"

"Of course," His partner smiled, "I'm just a kid after all." The fake hunter ninja stood up and looked around, "The mist has cleared."

Looking down the fake hunter ninja asked a question, "Will you be alright, next time? I' sorry to say this but those really put a number on you, you barely got any offence in"

Zabuza's eyes narrowed and let out something akin growl. "Next time I will skin those little bastards alive. I swear it!"

 **Back at Tazuna's**

"Don't you think you're over thinking this?" asked Tazuna, now worried that, that really strong ninja might actually be coming back. "I mean, hunter ninja are supposed to kill missing ninja."

"One of the shinobi rules is to always prepare for the worst possible scenario," Menma stated. "And even if Zabuza is dead, it just means that Gato is likely to hire an even stronger ninja. Either case point to the fact that we need to prepare."

"Why do you guys even bother?"

Everyone turned to the source of the new voice to see a depressed looking little kid of about six to eight years of age. He had blue coveralls on over a yellow shirt and a fishing hat on his head.

"Oh! Inari! Where were you!" Tazuna asked in greeting, holding out his arms as Inari ran to give him a hug.

"Welcome back grandpa," Inari said, before glaring over at the Konoha ninja.

"Inari, say hello to these people," Tsunami said, placing her hands on her hips. "They're the ninja that protected grandpa."

"But mom, they're just going to die," Everyone looked and/or angry when Inari said that. Tazuna and Tsunami just sighed. "There's no way they can beat Gato."

"That's not gonna happen, we're a lot stronger than we look kid" Naruto commented

"Pft," Inari huffed. "You must be some kind of idiot, thinking you can go against Gato." Inari turned around and made his way to the door, "If you don't want to die you should leave."

"Inari, where are you going?" asked Tsunami in a worried voice.

"I'm going to look at the ocean." Inari said before leaving, slamming the door shut on his way out.

"I'm sorry about that," Tazuna said in a depressed voice as he looked over at the Konoha ninja.

"Its okay" Naruto commented.

The blond shook his head and banished the thoughts, "Anyway, I think I'll be going to get some rest."

"In that case, there are a few extra rooms for you on the right if you want to take one of them, Tsunami said helpfully.

Naruto gave her a smile, "Thanks."

He left the room, moving to one of the ones Tsunami had said was open. As he passed by Inari's room he heard crying. Curious he stopped and channeled some chakra to his ear.

"…Tou-san."

Naruto frowned when he heard Inari's sobbed whispers, sighing he began walking to one of the open rooms again.

 **Zabuza's Location**

Within their base the hunter ninja watched over the bedridden Zabuza, mixing some of the herbs they had.

"So even you have come back defeated."

The hunter ninja turned his head to see Gato standing in between two thugs. One of them was shirtless with a black hakama, and an eye patch on his right eye. His left shoulder was adorned with a vine tattoo pattern while he had barbed wire tattoos running down his arms.

The other was wearing a baggy gray jacket festooned with many pockets, a pair of black shorts and a black beanie on his head.

Both of them had a hand holding the sheathes of their swords, trying to make themselves look menacing.

Zabuza's partner thought the pair looked pathetic with their posturing.

"It looks like the Kiri Ninja are pretty pathetic." Gato continued as he moved into the room, feeling confident now that Zabuza was bed ridden. "You can't even avenge your men, how pathetic. And you call yourself a devil?"

"…" Zabuza said nothing, causing both of Gato's ronin to start unsheathing their blades.

"Hold on for a moment," Gato held up a hand as he continued walking up to Zabuza. He stopped at the bed and looked down at the Kiri missing ninja, "Hey. There's no need to stay silent."

Gato began to reach out his hand towards Zabuza's throat, but before it could get there the hunter ninja grabbed onto the business man's wrist.

"Don't touch Zabuza-sama with your filthy hands!" The hunter ninja snarled, giving him a glare that looked like it would burn straight through the fat business man.

"Hey let go! Let go you fucking- ARGH!" Gato shouted, only to scream as the hunter ninja snapped his arm, then tossed him back.

The two ronin moved their hands towards their swords. However, their eyes widened when they found the hunter ninja between them, holding their own swords against their throats.

"You shouldn't do that," The hunter ninja said. "I'm really pissed off right now."

Gato and both his cronies began to sweat.

"One more chance!" Gato shouted as he stood up and shook his unbroken hand in a fist. "I'm giving you one more chance to complete this! If you fail, I'll make sure that every ninja in Kiri knows where you are!" Gato and his two thugs left, slamming the door on their way out.

"Haku," Zabuza said, getting his partner's attention. "You didn't have to do that."

"I know," Haku said with a smile, spotting the protrusion in the sheets that showed Zabuza was holding a kunai. "But it's still too early to kill Gato. If we cause a commotion right now, the hunters will be after us again. We must be patient."

Zabuza sighed. "Damn…I hate it when you're right."

"Right about what?"

Hearing the voice, Haku and Zabuza looked over as the door opened to see the someone walking in.

This person had blue eyes with a darker ripple around the pupil, waist length green hair with two bangs falling down on his cheeks on each side and having dark, full lips.

"And just what the fuck do you want, Raiga?!" asked Zabuza with a snarl

Raiga kurosuki, a former jonin from Kirigakure as well as a member of the seven ninja swordsmen of the mist. Prior to his defection from the village, he also served as an anbu and Zabuza's partner.

"Now that's just disappointing, is that how you treat a former friend?" the now identified Raiga spoke with a grin

"What do you want Raiga?"

"Such a lack of courtesy" Raiga commented with a smile, "I hear you had some trouble with a couple of brats so I came to check it out for myself, perhaps I might even help you out" he said

Zabuza merely gave an angry grunt eyeing his fellow rogue nin with suspicion, "And what's in it for you? You're seriously not expecting me to share with you the pay are you?"

Raiga chuckled at that, he's ambitions were much much bigger than that, "Oh no old friend, you can keep the pay. I'm doing this for my own benefit" he answered his mind taking him to a group of mercenaries with black cloaks and red clouds.

 **END CHAPTER**

 **Thank you for your patience, I hope you enjoy this one.**

 **P.S: RECOMMENDATION**

 **There's a good chance that most of you have already read this one but for those of you that haven't; read "Life in Konoha's Anbu" by 'Sheeza'.**

 **I promise you'll love it.**

 **SARAVAN OUT!**


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